Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Prehistory II

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Prehistory IIBoth the name (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs ) and the music (sweet, fluffy ) are likely to polarize here. Oxford's Orlando Higginbottom (seems like an improvement now, doesn't it?), though, has been getting a fair amount of attention lately. His music is married well with his stage shows—ridiculous hats, dancing dinosaurs, etc. The name's a pretty fitting analogy for his music, too—large, lumbering basslines and loose organic percussion that's nonetheless detailed and complex. What's best, though, is the heartwarming and quirky melodies and harmonies in the centre of it all.

"Waulking Song" is the highlight, full of African chanting, dusty bells and ethnic hollow wood rhythms. It'd match up well to things like Four Tet or DJ Koze. "How Far" is woozier, with a 2-step beat instead of a churning house one. It's quite similar to what Lone was doing a few years ago, with sun-bleached chords that slide around in pitch. "Move On" is an outtake from the All in Two Sixty Dancehalls EP last year, and makes a centrepiece of the chord progressions, rising and warm and with a gloopy bassline to boot. "Critisize" is sparser and with a pure subbass tone deep underneath. Shy singing fractured by digital errors—"you're all I need, I can see that"—drifts lightly alongside thin, cerulean synths.